A bit of warning: Unnecessary cruelty and blood. Just the old Gaara on the loose.

o0o

The Longest Road

o0o0o0o

~Chapter 49. Interrogation~

After forty minutes of questioning, and fifteen minutes of being roughed up, Matsuri couldn't bear it anymore. She answered all questions the interrogators asked but they still weren't satisfied. Matsuri panted heavily, tasting her own blood, it's salty and bitter tang resembling that of tears. However she was certain it would become much worse in hours to come. The man whom face she had come to know after the monster showed it to her told the interrogators 'not to excessively flaw her.' The girl's only hope was the monster's help but he still didn't come while Matsuri did all she could. She honestly answered all questions she had been asked, without hiding anything, but she could have made something up as well, and it wouldn't make much difference. Because of the deal she had made with the monster before, she was talking about him in a familiar manner, ditching any honorifics, but it only angered that Kanryū guy. For that reason, Matsuri stopped insisting that Gaara would come for her. Instead she tried to induce a kind of trance she could slip away into, hopefully reducing the pain.

Suddenly the door lock squeaked and grated, and all men present in the room turned their heads to see the lock being undone. The door opened wide with a small creak, revealing the narrow corridor lit with torches. There was no one behind the door though, and Kanryū frowned suspiciously, wordlessly ordering his subordinates to get ready for attack. Two men approached the doorway noiselessly when Matsuri coughed and sputtered, swallowing desperately. Everyone jumped, heads snapping at her, muttering profanities. When Kanryū looked at the doorway again, he saw two of his men standing near the door missing.

"Shinji? Ryōji?" he whispered, furrowing. "Where the hell are you?"

There was no response, only silence being occasionally interrupted by torches' cracking and Matsuri's heavy gasps. Slowly, Kanryū drew his two kodachi from their sheaths, tilting his head to point at Matsuri. The last interrogator walked towards the girl, holding her in his grasp, warning her in a quietest whisper not to speak.

Matsuri only nodded, slumping against him with her head low, sputtering from time to time. Suddenly the man's grip loosened, leaving her without support. Falling to her knees, her hands bound behind her back, she didn't think she could even find any strength in herself left. Hearing the horrible male scream, she straightened, looking up quickly, only to screw her eyes shut in a futile attempt to erase the gruesome image of what the monster was doing to Kanryū. Sputtering again, she began throwing up the food and blood, and when she was finally empty, the bile burned her throat, heavy tears welling in her eyes. Thankfully, the horror didn't last long, and there was finally silence, interrupted by the monster's quiet steps.

"Get up," he snarled impatiently, cutting the ties with the kunai. Matsuri started rubbing her numb hands and rope imprints on her wrists. Not trusting her legs to support her weight, she crawled towards the wall, where she stood up tardily, leaning heavily against the cold stones. In the meantime, the monster wiped the entire room clean with his sand, and headed towards the exit, beckoning her. Matsuri followed him in silence, her breathing labored and heavy as she supported herself against the wall. The monster shut the door silently, the sand slithering in and out the door lock, and they went away. There were several closed doors there. They encountered no one though, as they sneaked down the corridor and upstairs.

"Quiet," the monster ordered, and before Matsuri could react, his sand wrapped around her, lifting her high towards the ceiling, where it put her onto the narrow ledge. The girl pressed her back against the wall while the sand swirled down into the gourd. She was tired, cold and hurting. Her teeth were chattering but she knew that if she would fall down he wasn't probably going to catch her.

The monster made a few hand seals and transformed into Kanryū. He continued climbing upstairs until he met a few men who were obviously surprised, seeing him.

"Kanryū-sama!" they exclaimed, straightening. Matsuri watched as 'Kanryū' stopped, scrutinizing the five. Confused, they waited for any sign, but something happened then they certainly didn't expect. The guards commander changed into a red-headed boy within a blink, and the five men were incapacitated with his sand, their mouths gagged so they couldn't even cry for help. The monster's sand floated towards Matsuri then, confining her to deliver her like a package to him, and she landed on the floor, descending softly and quietly as a falling feather.

Shivering, the girl looked at him questioningly, suddenly afraid that he would abandon her. The monster swirled the kunai blade in his hand, and licked his lips. Glancing at her, he cut one of the men's throat, quickly and effortlessly. Matsuri gasped, staggering back, as the man made an awful gurgling noise, and the drops of the fresh blood burned her skin. The monster didn't flinch though. He ignored the quaking victim, who was choking on his own blood. Turning to face her, the monster presented the bloodied weapon to her. She stared at him in shock, and he stared back, his expression menacing when she didn't move. "Take it," he murmured.

Matsuri shook her head, her lips trembling in panic. Her gaze flickered to the men confined within the sand when the monster spoke. "I'm counting to three," he announced calmly.

Matsuri took the kunai on the count of three, her hand trembling so much that the red drops fell from the tip.

"You said you will help me out of here," she said in a dying voice, and he shrugged, his face almost serene.

"I did. You're not in the whorehouse anymore."

Matsuri closed her eyes, remembering how she had been kidnapped. She had the same feeling right now. This nightmare was all unfair, horrible, and she couldn't escape from it.

"Pick one of them, and put the kunai against his throat," the monster demanded. "Now."

Matsuri stepped closer to the man. She could see his eyes, wide with terror, begging for mercy. She knew that those eyes would haunt her for the rest of her life. The blade in her hand turned out to be heavier to her than all sand in the desert. She just couldn't lift it. Tears pouring down her cheeks, she sniffled. She had once thought it would be easy. There was a weapon in her hand, and the immobilized enemy in front of her. Nothing should be easier than stabbing him in his stomach but she couldn't do it.

Obviously, killing was not so easy as the innocent believed.

"He wouldn't hesitate if you changed places," she heard the monster's velvety voice behind her. "It's either you or them."

The girl closed her eyes, shaking so hard that she could barely stand. The monster was right, of course. These man were of the same kind as Kanryū's subordinates. They would never let her go. They wouldn't show any mercy. But still...

"I can't," she admitted, biting her lower lip.

"You have to," he whispered in her ear, and she flinched when she realized he was standing right behind her. "If you don't, I will leave you here with five dead bodies."

Matsuri wept openly.

"You said that-that you will help me out of here," she cried. "Please, I—I just can't—"

"Put the kunai against his throat," he breathed, and the girl obeyed. The blade tip touched the man's skin, and his Adam's apple bobbed up and down. Matsuri gasped when she saw the thin red line left on the fair skin. She wanted to withdraw her hand but the monster grasped her balled fist, keeping it in place. His fingers were cold and dry, and she fought to shake his grip off, to no avail.

"Since it's your first time, I will help you," he whispered eerily, slashing the kunai into the man's throat. Matsuri screwed her eyes shut and opened her mouth to scream but the monster put his hand over her mouth, effectively hindering the noise from coming out. "Quiet," he ordered in a harsh whisper. "Be good or you will never get out of here."

She didn't want to look at their victim but she couldn't stop herself from glancing at the man. His body was twitching as the blood spurted from deep gash. The sand wrapped around him loosened, and his head lolled back, the gaping gash showing various shades of red inside. Matsuri stepped backwards instinctively, bumping into the monster. He gripped her arm, swallowing the trembling breath as if in delight, and pushed her towards another victim.

"No," she whispered, and he walked away immediately, leaving her behind and taking his sand with him as the grains began to fall, about to reveal two dead bodies and release three survivors.

The end of the chapter 49.

The next chapter: Stains

Shinji and Ryōji - OCs whose names are borrowed from Shinseiki Evangelion characters.

Kanryū's style of fighting using two kodachi is slightly based on Shinomori Aoshi's style but of course Kanryū is not even near Aoshi's level of skills. (Shinomori Aoshi is a Rurouni Kenshin character btw)

"Killing is not so easy as the innocent believe." ~Albus Dumbledore.